I found this today for $10 at a thrift store near my office. It’s an Italian company. Anyone have an idea on its age?
Might turn into a fun restoration project.
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I’m assuming the piece missing is a pencil adapter like this - it’s a shame because it looks like the beam extension is worthless without it - 
The missing piece is probably a universal adapter (the example you show is a dedicated technical pen adapter by Staedtler). Examples can be seen in a couple of Charvoz sets on ebay, here and here. It should be easy to find a replacement; just make sure it’s the right shank diameter to fit the extension bar (usually 4 mm or 3.5 mm), or a dual-diameter fitting like the Staedtler you pictured (3.5 at the top, 4 lower down).
The only part missing from the extension bar is the tightening nut. In fact, the stray thumb turn may be sitting in the adapter slot, so all you are missing is the tiny bolt that slots into the hole on the sliding socket (check the spares container, under the instruments, and maybe beneath the tray if you can hear a rattle).
The pencil may have been made in Italy, but the compasses were usually made for Charvoz by German companies such as Boden, Lotter, Seelig, etc. (Charvoz itself was based in New Jersey, USA).
It looks quite a serviceable set. Those traditional master bows were slow to adjust, but very solid and reliable.
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Thank You, @Alan ! I appreciate the info!
Is this the nut you are mentioning? This one was loose in the box, and another is in the lead/accessories box
Also, the missing adapter may not actually be missing. Charvoz sometimes sold the sets with an empty slot, often containing a little note explaining the emptiness, as seen here (the drawing set equivalent of “This page intentionally left blank”).
Of all the retailers, Rotring were particularly bad at not including extras in their compass sets - sometimes even the extension bar itself was considered an optional extra!
Staedtler would occasionally include a paper placeholder with a picture of the missing part on it. For example, see if you can spot the wafer-thin interloper here:
If I had the time and motivation, I would assemble a collection just of these two-dimensional surrogate drawing instruments.
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Yes, that is probably the nut - it just needs a threaded bolt similar to the ones that retain the inserts on the compass legs.
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Thank you @Alan
Probably the very same one producing the ubiquitous Koh-I-Noor 5611 clutch pencil, and many many variations on that theme.
It may be anything between 1950 and 1980 — I lean towards the older end, but I’m very far from an expert on that matter. If only the old “leadholdercom” website were still online…
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I checked the wayback machine archive - this is not listed for Charvoz drafting leadholders…
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